James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, to the House to discuss this important Bill but I note the absence of Progressive Democrats speakers on this important Government motion. It is amusing and rather pathetic that Fianna Fáil is starting this term, as I assume it means to go on, in a self-congratulatory manner. Spin, waffle, noise and lies are all calculated to deceive the general public and, given the performance of the Taoiseach in the other House, are obviously to be the order for the coming months and the remaining two years of this Government, if it lasts its term. While the Bill is welcome, the same cannot be said for the Government's propensity for praising itself prematurely. The Bill is the start of a long road and while an initial footprint has been put down, there are many miles to go.

After two years of lobbying by interested and in many cases desperate parties, the Government unveiled the national disability strategy and published the Disability Bill. This was the start of the process and the work is only beginning. We were all disappointed by the failure some years ago of the previous Bill, introduced by the then Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Mary Wallace. It is disappointing that it took so long for the Government to get its act together and bring forward the Bill just published.